They Tried To Part Us
by Jazzola
Summary: Just a little Fraphne one-shot about Daphne's parents trying to keep Fred and Daphne apart. In all honesty I'm not confident about this one, but I thought it was good enough to publish... Rated T for violence and mild bloodiness.


"_This is the Ohio six o'clock news, brought to you by Tasha Davis and Chris Moore."_

Daphne groaned as the familiar sound came back to her, turning over in bed and trying to blearily open her eyes. Opening them would shut out the sound…

_They hit him on the head first and he cried out, swerving round._

A second memory clouded her mind.

"_A seventeen-year-old boy has been attacked and rushed to hospital with severe injuries. Doctors say it is likely he will not survive."_

That was what they had said, on the TV in the hospital. She had watched it.

_Mom's hand, clutching a blood-spattered hammer. She stood above him, hatred on every inch of her face, watching as he curled himself round on the pavement, blood forming a puddle around him, his eyes closing._

She closed her eyes again, trying to get it out of her head.

_He looked round at me and I was the last thing he saw before he blacked out._

Her eyes flashed at something, she wasn't sure what.

"_He was beaten to within an inch of his life with a hammer-like instrument."_

Her fists clenched under the duvet.

_They had said, "We're saving you, Daphne. He's not what you want. Come back to us, to reality." I pushed them away and pulled my phone out. They fled, knowing it hadn't worked. I knelt next to his body on the pavement._

Daphne reached out and knocked the light on, trying to wake herself up.

_The ambulance seemed to take years. I couldn't believe how long it took. I stroked his bloody cheek and waited for him to wake up; I thought there was a chance he might. He didn't until he was in the ambulance, and they soothed him to sleep again, telling him not to wake up. I could see in their eyes that they didn't hold out much hope._

The thoughts, memories, however much Daphne tried to fight them, kept coming back.

"_Two people, a man and a woman, have been arrested and charged with attempted murder. Their identities have not yet been revealed."_

"Go away…"

_His head was almost completely coated in bandages when they let me through. He was unconscious and still critical. A monitor bleeped as I sat down and I reached out to hold his hand and whisper in his ear._

"I don't want to… to remember…"

_I whispered, "I hate them. My parents did this. I won't let them get away with it." He managed to smile slightly._

"They did it… I know. I've seen this in my head more times than I can count."

"_He has survived the night…"_

_He turned slightly to look at me after they said that on the news and looked at me. He asked if they meant him, and I had to say yes. He closed his eyes and let a tear snake down his cut cheek._

"It got better after that… I think…"

_The bleep of machines was overwhelming. I could only sit there and watch him breathing, like a guardian angel. The oxygen monitor fell off his finger and I gently put it back on. He pulled his hand away but let it fall and stay put when I held it briefly. He recognised the feel of my hand on his._

"_The pair in question, Elizabeth and George Blake, are being charged with attempted murder. Their own daughter is giving a witness statement against them and has asked them to disown her."_

Daphne turned over again. Her hand hit something.

_I didn't know if he would ever get better or not. His brain might be damaged, his spine might be as well. They didn't know if he would ever walk or talk again. I didn't say anything to him, but he knew, I could tell, and he was desperate to find out._

She let her hand drape over something warm and stroked it, smiling as she heard a sleepy moan come from the warm body she was lying next to.

"_Doctors say they believe there will be permanent harm to the victim and they feel that the perpetrators should be imprisoned indefinitely."_

"Are you waking up, sweetheart?"

_The first time he whispered my name I kissed him. Full on the lips, delighted. That was the first time he smiled properly as well._

"Mmh… Maybe." Daphne smiled at the words, the familiar voice.

_I swear I loved him more after that day._

Daphne leaned right over and pressed her lips against the person's warm cheek, feeling him smile and holding him close in both arms.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

Freddy gave her a small smile and fell asleep again. Daphne, knowing that he would be woken up soon by the alarm clock, simply grinned at him and stroked his hair back into place.

_That was the day he promised to marry me._

"_Some good may have come from this court case, after all, say jurors…"_

_They have no idea. I hated and loved, destroyed my link to and forged a new one with. And through it all, I didn't lose anything that I held dear, I only gained that which I would cherish later._

_Thank you, Mom and Dad._

Daphne lay back against his broad body and closed her eyes, wrapping him in her devotion and love.

_Good and evil are so close it is startling._


End file.
